Saturday letters

Published: Saturday, December 7, 2013 at 1:00 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, December 6, 2013 at 10:58 a.m.

Your article on lack of trust in others being on the rise prompted me, as it did an earlier letter writer, to reaffirm my own guiding principle. I do not agree with him, however.

The Golden Rule, shortened to the writer's "do as you would be done by," does not do it for me as a guide to life. It is egocentric, an attitude that interferes with true concern for others. How do we know what the other truly wants? And, given Freud, how do we even know that what we seek for ourselves is healthy and freeing? Well-meaning as we may be, we become controlling and manipulative of others.

No, better guidance comes from Kant: "Do not use another human being as a means to an end. Each person is an end in himself (or herself)." Only with that respect for others can we hope to achieve a civil and truly beneficent society.

Paula G. John

Sarasota

Cigarette litter

I recently read that placing an object, like a marble or a penny, in a jar every day helps you visualize an accomplishment, especially when exercising, eating right or becoming a nonsmoker.

Now, every time my husband and I go to yoga class on Venice Beach, I pick up a seashell to represent our commitment to better health.

For five years, we've gone early to visit with newfound friends to compare notes about shopping, dining, theater experiences or news. This ritual now includes finding a seashell by the seashore.

As we walk toward the water, we notice a significant amount of cigarette butts left behind by thoughtless, inconsiderate smokers.

Unfortunately, smokers were given back their right to smoke on Florida beaches. It did not give them the right to litter, making Venice Beach their personal ashtray.

Each smoking cigarette holds many additives and produces numerous toxins when burnt. Deadly tar and nicotine end up in the cigarette filter discarded on the beach. Besides the obvious filters, what I thought was a piece of coral was actually a pitted, plastic filter.

Most cigarette filters are synthetic now; they'll be sticking around for a long, long time or until some form of animal picks them up.

How utterly careless and irresponsible it was for a smoker to leave it behind.

Sandee Kim Eudy

Venice

Shelter skeptic

If you think that building a shelter or two will end Sarasota's homeless problem, you are dead wrong. Construction of the facility will add to our problem.

Having lived in the Washington, D.C., area, I can assure you that half our homeless population will refuse to enter the facility. Many of Washington's homeless refuse to be warehoused even on sub-zero nights. The half that will agree to enter the shelter will be enough to fill it.

What is the city's plan when the shelter fills? Build another? Build two more? If you start to build holding facilities for the homeless, you will never have enough beds and enough staff. What do you do when the homeless have overstayed their welcome? You cannot let them stay there forever. What's the plan?

The sheriff's department is going to check for outstanding warrants; the homeless -- including those with prior police problems -- know that too.

Don't delude the population into thinking that the problem is going to disappear once you construct some multimillion-dollar buildings and hire staff. Homeless people from all over the nation will flock to Sarasota, based on our new facility, our weather and our wealth. Don't let the advocates for the homeless tell you that the problem will be solved if you proceed with the plan. You'll still have homeless in the parks and panhandlers on street corners. The difference is that you will also have a new shelter full of problems that you have no plan to deal with.

Stephen Arnhart

Sarasota

Why Romney

lost to Obama

The argument put forth by a recent letter writer contrasted the importance, to voters, of Mitt Romney's administrative business record versus Barack Obama's likability.

The writer overlooked some decisive criteria used by the voting public resulting in the election and re-election of President Obama.

First, John McCain lost because during his campaign he displayed a lack of administrative decision-making (e.g., his selection of running mate Sarah Palin).

Romney lost, not because of his recognized administrative experience to personally manipulate the relatively unregulated financial free market. Romney lost because, in order to win the Republican nomination, he succumbed to and was stuck with the radical ideology of the far right -- the paranoid fear spit out by talk radio and the Fox media, the anti-women rantings of certain Republicans, the resistance of leftover segregationists from the Old South, the undemocratic financial support from our nation's plutocrats seeking a larger power base to control our economy and, last but not least, the tea party.

Furthermore, Romney insultingly neglected to to recognize the increasing inequality of economic opportunity among the haves, the middle class and the have-nots.

Romney was excellent at flipping businesses and property for personal gain, but when you run for president you can't flip off issues involving the American Dream.

The letter writer was perhaps half-right about criteria when choosing a president, but can our political system select a whole person possessing all that is needed?

<p>A better rule:</p><p>Respect others</p><p>Your article on lack of trust in others being on the rise prompted me, as it did an earlier letter writer, to reaffirm my own guiding principle. I do not agree with him, however.</p><p>The Golden Rule, shortened to the writer's "do as you would be done by," does not do it for me as a guide to life. It is egocentric, an attitude that interferes with true concern for others. How do we know what the other truly wants? And, given Freud, how do we even know that what we seek for ourselves is healthy and freeing? Well-meaning as we may be, we become controlling and manipulative of others.</p><p>No, better guidance comes from Kant: "Do not use another human being as a means to an end. Each person is an end in himself (or herself)." Only with that respect for others can we hope to achieve a civil and truly beneficent society.</p><p>Paula G. John</p><p>Sarasota</p><p>Cigarette litter</p><p>I recently read that placing an object, like a marble or a penny, in a jar every day helps you visualize an accomplishment, especially when exercising, eating right or becoming a nonsmoker.</p><p>Now, every time my husband and I go to yoga class on Venice Beach, I pick up a seashell to represent our commitment to better health.</p><p>For five years, we've gone early to visit with newfound friends to compare notes about shopping, dining, theater experiences or news. This ritual now includes finding a seashell by the seashore.</p><p>As we walk toward the water, we notice a significant amount of cigarette butts left behind by thoughtless, inconsiderate smokers.</p><p>Unfortunately, smokers were given back their right to smoke on Florida beaches. It did not give them the right to litter, making Venice Beach their personal ashtray.</p><p>Each smoking cigarette holds many additives and produces numerous toxins when burnt. Deadly tar and nicotine end up in the cigarette filter discarded on the beach. Besides the obvious filters, what I thought was a piece of coral was actually a pitted, plastic filter.</p><p>Most cigarette filters are synthetic now; they'll be sticking around for a long, long time or until some form of animal picks them up.</p><p>How utterly careless and irresponsible it was for a smoker to leave it behind.</p><p>Sandee Kim Eudy</p><p>Venice</p><p>Shelter skeptic</p><p>If you think that building a shelter or two will end Sarasota's homeless problem, you are dead wrong. Construction of the facility will add to our problem.</p><p>Having lived in the Washington, D.C., area, I can assure you that half our homeless population will refuse to enter the facility. Many of Washington's homeless refuse to be warehoused even on sub-zero nights. The half that will agree to enter the shelter will be enough to fill it.</p><p>What is the city's plan when the shelter fills? Build another? Build two more? If you start to build holding facilities for the homeless, you will never have enough beds and enough staff. What do you do when the homeless have overstayed their welcome? You cannot let them stay there forever. What's the plan?</p><p>The sheriff's department is going to check for outstanding warrants; the homeless -- including those with prior police problems -- know that too.</p><p>Don't delude the population into thinking that the problem is going to disappear once you construct some multimillion-dollar buildings and hire staff. Homeless people from all over the nation will flock to Sarasota, based on our new facility, our weather and our wealth. Don't let the advocates for the homeless tell you that the problem will be solved if you proceed with the plan. You'll still have homeless in the parks and panhandlers on street corners. The difference is that you will also have a new shelter full of problems that you have no plan to deal with.</p><p>Stephen Arnhart</p><p>Sarasota</p><p>Why Romney</p><p>lost to Obama</p><p>The argument put forth by a recent letter writer contrasted the importance, to voters, of Mitt Romney's administrative business record versus Barack Obama's likability.</p><p>The writer overlooked some decisive criteria used by the voting public resulting in the election and re-election of President Obama.</p><p>First, John McCain lost because during his campaign he displayed a lack of administrative decision-making (e.g., his selection of running mate Sarah Palin).</p><p>Romney lost, not because of his recognized administrative experience to personally manipulate the relatively unregulated financial free market. Romney lost because, in order to win the Republican nomination, he succumbed to and was stuck with the radical ideology of the far right -- the paranoid fear spit out by talk radio and the Fox media, the anti-women rantings of certain Republicans, the resistance of leftover segregationists from the Old South, the undemocratic financial support from our nation's plutocrats seeking a larger power base to control our economy and, last but not least, the tea party.</p><p>Furthermore, Romney insultingly neglected to to recognize the increasing inequality of economic opportunity among the haves, the middle class and the have-nots.</p><p>Romney was excellent at flipping businesses and property for personal gain, but when you run for president you can't flip off issues involving the American Dream.</p><p>The letter writer was perhaps half-right about criteria when choosing a president, but can our political system select a whole person possessing all that is needed?</p><p>James J. Connolly</p><p>Englewood</p>